Strand handling apparatus



April 25, 1944. A BOUGET 2,347,392

STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNl/EN70/? KA. BOUGET kmw A TTORNEY April 1944- Y. A. BOUGET 2,347,392

STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORK A. BOUGET II. a 1 III QN a k\ m k 2 2 A T TOPNEY Patented Apr. 25,1944 STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Yves A. Bouget, West Orange, N. 1.,allignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application July 10, 1943, Serial No. 494,170

paratus, and more particularly to apparatus for cooling, washing orotherwise treating the surface of a wire or other strand with a liquidmedium.

Where a hot wire is to be cooled rapidly and thoroughly, orwherethesurface of a strand is to be thoroughly and rapidly washed or rinsed orpickled or otherwise subjected to some action of a liquid medium, it isdesirable to cause as much as possible ofagiven quantity of the liquidin question to come into contact with the strand in order that theliquid may be efliciently effective for its purpose and not be wasteditself or require wasted energy to circulate unused liquid. For example,in the manufacture of tinned copper wire, the wire is coated with tin bybeing drawn through a bath of molten tin and emerges therefrom hot andwith a hot coating. To cool both the coating and the wire inside of itfor further manufacturing procedures or to harden the coatingsufllciently to permit the coated wire to be wound on a spool or reelfor stora e, requires the intimate contact of a relatively considerablequantity of cold water with the surface of the hot, coated wire.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple, reliable andefliciently operating apparatus or device for apply n to a strandpassing longitudinally therethrough a liquid in such fashion as toeffectively assure contact of the surface of the strand with a maximumproporing formed with a coaxial bore to pass a strand moving axiallythrough the channel to be subjected to the action of the helicallyturbulently moving liquid therein.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which the same referencenumerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and inwhich Fig. 1 is a broken view in side elevation of an apparatusconstructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section, on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation on a reduced scaleshowing the apparatus applied in the cooling of tinned wire;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation and partly in vertical centralsection of the head and body of the device;

Fig. 5 is a corresponding view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4.

As herein disclosed. the, illustrative embodiment of the inventioncomprises an elongated tubular body and a parallelopipedal head joinedthereto. The head, generally. indicated at In, for convenience ofmanufacture consists of two rectangular blocks II and I2, held togetherby screws l3, and is formed with an annularly conoidal chamber H, theinner wall of which forms on its outer surface a conical entrance IS.The tubular body,'general1y indicated at l6, comprises a main body tubell inset at one end into the block l2 coaxially with the chamber l4.Telescoped snugly over the tube I1 is a rotatably adjustable cover tubel8. A short tube I9 is telescoped and secured in the left end of thetube H. The left ends of this tube l9 and of the tube I! are chamferedas at 20 to continue the taper of the outer wall of the chamber H to thediameter of the inside tube l9. After a short, parallel-sided throat 2|the tube I9 is chamfered out as at 22 to the diameter of the tube H. Theinner wall of the chamber l4 extends as a cylindrical stem 23 into thechamfer cone 20 and is formed with a coaxial bore 24 communicatingbetween the conical entrance l5 and the chamfer cone 20. The chamber M,the entrance IS, the bore 24, the cone 2., the throat 2| and the chamfercone 22 are all coaxial with each other and with the tubes l1 and I8. Aplurality of choke tubes 25 (three in the particular device illustrated)is mounted inside the tube II at intervals along the length thereof.Such a choke tube 25 is a short length of tubing telescoped snugly withthe tube l1 and secured in place, e. g. by sweating with solder. The endtoward the head is chamfered out on a relatively long taper as at 26,best shown in Fig. 4, and the bther end is squared oi! as at 21. Thetube l1 and the tubes 25 are formed with a long slot it along its top,and the cover tube is is formed with a matchinsly shaped and dimensionedslot ll, ordinarily not coincident with the slot ll. The right hand endofthetube II is secured in a T fitting 30 having a plug 8i with a smellcentral bore 32 therein coaxial with the tube l1.Thedownwardlydirectedstemu oftheT may be connected to any suitable wastemeans or liquid recovery means (not shown). Within the head II, adiaphragm it extends across the chamber ll and is provided with a ringof apertures 35, each formed by cutting free and bending out to theright flaps ll. These iisps are rigid and stand out at about a halfright angle to the right (Fig. 4) from the diaphrasm. all facing thesame way as shown best in Pig. 6. Two liquid inlet pipes, 31 and 31respectively, enter the chamber it from opposite sides, preferably fromabove and below as shown. The upper pipe 31 is provided with a shut oi!valve 80. while the lower pipe 38 has a three-way valve 4|. These valvesare connected to suitable liquid supply means (not shown). The valve llalso has a waste outlet ll by means of which the whole device may bedrained when desired. The pipes 31 and SI not only enter the chamber Mat opposite sides but also enter it tangentially as shown in Fig. 8.

In the particular case of tin coated wire. now under consideration, itis desired to have the coldest liquid, water in this case, meet the hotwire first to chill and set the soft tin at once. Hence the water andthe wire are not run in counter-current directions. The hot wire is ledinto the device from a tinning means 42 and a wiping means 43, into theentrance I! and the bore 24, axially through the tube "and the chokes l9and 25, and out through the bore 82 in the plug II to some advancingmeans (not shown). Water under pressure enters the chamber it throughthe tangential pipes 31 and 38, whirls around and passes through theopenings 3! and along the spirally directed flaps a to continue in ahelically whirling course through the cone II and into contact with thehot wire in the throat 2| in a state of turbulence which causes a majorportion at least of the water to make actual contact with the wire whilepassing through the throat 2i and over the enlarging ramp of the chamfercone 2! and on through the tube H. The whirling effect may die out asass-mas Asdescribed, the tinned wireto be chilled is the water and wirepass along: but at the first of the choke tubes 25 the flow of water isspeeded up by the constriction and then in breaking out creasing fromleft to right along the dmction of liquid flow. This feature increasesthe crosssectional area of the liquid passage from left to night and sohelps to slow down the velocity of v the liquid flow as it approachesthe outlet 33.

However, the primary purpose of the slot 28 is to render it easily andconveniently possible to thread a strand through the apparatus. Byturning the outer tube or sleeve 18 until the slot 29 coincides with theslot 28, the interior of the tube i1 is made accessible for threading astrand.

run through the-apparatus in the same direction that the water flows. Inanother case, e. g. were the wire to be pickled, for example, it mightbe preferred to run the strand in the opposite direction in order tohave the flow counter-current to the motion of the strand. Again, if thecase were of a porous strand, e. g. a textile strand, or a wire sheathedin paper pulp or served with textile threads and to be impregnated withsome liquid material, the strand might be run from left to right, J. e.with the liquid flow, to lessen the scrubbing effect of the liquid onits surface;

while if the strand were to have a coating dissolved from its surface,the strand would be run against the current flow to increase themechanical effectiveness of the liquid.

While the apparatus is shown with two liquid supply pipes 31 and II, itis not necessarily so limited. The pipe 31, for example, might beomitted, or there could be more than two entering the chamber lltangentially.

The embodiment of the invention dsclosed and described is illustrativeand may be variously modified and departed from without depart,- ingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as particularly described andpointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for treating a longitudinally advancingstrand with a liquidand comprising a head formed with an annular chamber, an elongated bodyhaving a laterally closed channel coaxial with and communicating fromthe chamher, and liquid supply means to direct a liquid under pressuretangentially into the chamber to whirl around therein and to enter thechannel with both rotary and axial motion, the inner wall of the chamberbeing formed with a coaxial bore to pass a strand moving axially throughthe channel to be subjected to the action of the helically turbulentlymoving liquid therein.

2. A device for treating a longitudinally advancing strand with a liquidand comprising a head formed with an annular chamber, an elongated bodyhaving a laterally closed channel coaxial with and communicating fromthe chamber, liquid supply means to direct a liquid under pressuretangentially into the chamber to whirl around therein and to enter thechannel with both rotary and axial motion, and means to constrict thechannel at spaced intervals'along the same to create turbulence in theliquid flowing therethrough, the inner wall of the chamber being formedwith a coaxial bore to pass a strand moving axially through the channelto be sub- .iected to the action of the helically turbulently movingliquid therein.

3. A device for treating a longitudinally advancing strand with a liquidand comprisinga head formed with a conoidally annular chamber, anelongated body having a laterally closed channel coaxial with andcommunicating from the small end of the chamber, and liquid supply meansto direct a liquid under pressure tangentially into the large end of thechamber to whirl around therein and to enter the channel with bothrotary and axial motion, the inner wall of the chamber being formed witha coaxial bore to pass a strand moving axially through the channel to besubjected to the action of the helically turbulently moving liquidtherein.

4. A device for treating a longitudinally advancing strand with a liquidand comprising a I head formed with a conoidally annular chamber, anelongated body having a laterally closed channel coaxial with andcommunicating from the small end of the chamber, liquid supply means todirect a liquid under pressure tangentially into the large end of thechamber to whirl around therein and to enter the channel with bothrotary and axial motion, and means to constrict the channel at spacedintervals along the same to create turbulence in the liquid flowingtherethrough, the inner wall of the chamber being formed with a coaxialbore to pass a strand moving axially through the channel to be subjectedto the action of the helically turbulently moving liquid therein.

5. A device for treating a longitudinally advancing strand with a liquidand comprising a head formed with a conoidally annular chamber, anelongated body having a laterally closed channel coaxial with andcommunicating from the small end of the chamber, liquid supply means todirect a liquid under pressure tangentially into the large end of thechamber to whirl around therein and to enter the channel with bothrotary and axial motion, and a diaphragm transversely across the chamberand formed with an annular plurality of openings each having a rigidflap extending outwardly from one radial edge of the opening along thewhirlingly advancing direction of motion of the liquid therethrough, theinner wall of the chamber being formed with a coaxial bore to pass astrand moving axially through the ,channel to be subjected to the actionof the helically turbulently moving liquid therein.

6. A device for treating a longitudinally advancing strand with a liquidand comprising a head formed with a conoidally annular chamber, anelongated body having a laterally closed channel coaxial with andcommunicating from the small end of the chamber, liquid supply means todirect a liquid under pressure tangentially into the large end of thechamber to whirl around therein and to enter the channel with bothrotary and axial motion, a diaphragm transversely across the chamber andformed with an annular plurality of openings each having a rigid flapextending outwardl from one radial edge of the opening along thewhirlingly advancing direction or motion of the liquid therethrough,means to constrict the channel at spaced intervals along the same tocreate turbulence in the liquid flowing therethrough, the inner wall ofthe chamber being formed with a coaxial bore to pass a strand movingaxially through the channel to be subjected to the action of thehelically turbulently moving liquid therein.

YVES A. BOUGE'I'.

